New York's version of a parade

Thur 16 Mar

Took the "local" train on the subway uptown to the north end of Central Park but halfway there the train became an "express" and sped past the 110th St station where we wanted to get off. When it finally stopped we had to go back a few stations. Central Park after the snow was a totally different scene. There weren't many people about and the snow was pristine in most places, however, the main roads and pathways had been cleared. The smaller lakes and ponds had started to freeze over and we found a dry bench to sit and eat our lunch. We wandered around for ages occasionally getting hit by a cold wind, but we were well rugged up.

 Central Park with snow covering

Took subway back to the apartment for an early dinner as we had tickets to see the Bill Frisell Quartet at the Village Vanguard. They played an excellent one hour set with a couple of "free-range" spots in some tunes. The solos by the drummer were particularly impressive (but maybe we're biased towards drummers).

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Fri 17 Mar

Went out via the subway to watch the St Patrick's Day Parade along 5th Ave. The sanitation department had done a lot of snow clearing overnight to make the avenue safe for the parade. We found a spot in the warming sun and watched for the first hour (11:00 - 12:00); by then we were in shadows and the snow/ice we were standing on gradually froze through our shoes. The parade itself was initially centred around police, firefighters and other military groups (there's a strong Irish tradition amongst them). They were followed by other Irish groups representing various counties in Ireland. All this interspersed by different marching and pipe bands, occasional baton twirlers and flag groups - lots of flags!

 In the massed flags on the left, each flag represents a 
firefighter lost in 9/11.

We were alongside Central Park so we explored it a bit more while slowly making our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Yes, more art as well as artifacts from ancient and contemporary civilisations. The Met is another huge museum and would require many more days to explore fully (and, yes, another Jackson Pollock).

 

A long walk then to the nearest subway (the parade was still going) and got there just after 5pm. Crowded again!

The Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park

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Sat 18 Mar

The weather turned overcast and threatened rain. We took an afternoon walk first to Billy's Bakery just around the corner to have coffee and cakes. Then walked further to the Chelsea Markets to find food for dinner  - and some shopping.
Just starting to rain on the way back to the apartment.

Inside Billy's Bakery